Raed Masalmeh, the terrorist who carried out Thursday’s attack in Tel Aviv. Photo: Screenshot.

The terrorist who carried out a deadly stabbing attack in Tel Aviv on Thursday had a work permit and entered Israel legally, Israeli news website Walla reported.

Sources in Israel’s defense establishment confirmed that Raed Masalmeh, a 36-year-old father-of-five from Kfar Dura near Hebron, had received security clearance to enter Israel a week ago and receive a work permit. Masalmeh was working at Samarkand, a Bukhari restaurant in Jaffa within walking distance from the Panorama building in south Tel Aviv, where he carried out the attack, which left two Israelis dead and another moderately wounded.

A defense source said it was “very unusual for a Palestinian to be approved after passing all of the appropriate checks and then carry out a terrorist attack,” and that the matter would be investigated by the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service.

He also said that Masalmeh’s targeting of men praying in a [makeshift] synagogue was not coincidental. “It’s another sign that we’re in a religious war,” he said.